Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Rhetoric And Feminism In The Americanization Era: The Ywca's Rhetorical Education Program For Immigrant Women, Gracemarie Mike

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines the Young Women’s Christian Association’s International Institute movement from an administrative perspective. Founded in the United States during the Americanization Era of the early 20 th century, the International Institute movement developed programs and services for immigrant women. One of the most prominent, and least examined, aspects of the movement was its work in the area of rhetorical education for non-English speaking immigrant women. Using a feminist, administrative historiographic methodology, this project positions the work of the International Institute’s administrators ecologically among other Americanization efforts taking place in this time period. Arguing that the International Institute movement …

Compelled To Speak: Women Confronting Institutional Racism, 1910-1950, Sharlene Voogd Cochrane

New England Journal of Public Policy

Women within and outside the YWCA have been able to move this organization to confront its own racism. Although the strategies and goals for this endeavor took several decades to work out, the organization moved more quickly than other similar institutions. One reason for this movement was the power of women speaking out in an institution that encouraged them to make connections between their faith and their daily lives. Their strategy was a profound commitment to connecting talk and action. They constantly set a context for and educated others to see connections between YWCA rhetoric, ideals, and practices.

The article …